News Updates

Where Are Our Grads Now?  New Database Will Track Educational Outcomes

Published on March 1st, 2020 in Fair Share Housing Development

By Jesuit Volunteer Scott Henderson

Something that we recognized as missing from our records here at Fair Share Housing was a comprehensive database of alumni who’ve attended our center. We wanted to gain a better idea of where our students and families are currently living, their occupations, educational pursuits, and so forth. We strive to support our students and families in any manner possible, and we think maintaining a collection of information regarding where our graduated students are and what they are doing is essential.

In order to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of both the challenges our families face as well as the triumphs experienced by our students, we have begun to contact parents of our student alumni.

During these conversations, we ask our parents to share their childrens’ current employment, residence, educational pursuits, as well as their experience living in Ethel Lawrence Homes and the greater Mount Laurel community. We are incredibly grateful for our parents who so vulnerably and generously shared both their child’s and their own experiences of living in this community, and it has been incredibly beneficial to bear witness to their stories. We asked our parents to share both the positives and negatives of their realities living as part of the Ethel Lawrence Homes community, as well as what suggestions and feedback they may have regarding the Education Center.

We aim to fully support our students in every facet of their life, and we are thrilled we have had this opportunity to get a better understanding of what has gone well at the Education Center, as well as how we can improve the services and programs we provide.